SecondMarket Launches First U.S. Bitcoin Fund

SecondMarket has launched the first U.S.-based bitcoin fund, which allows investors to buy into the value of bitcoin without having to buy the digital currency directly. The Bitcoin Investment Trust is an open-ended private trust that invests only in bitcoin. The fund is raised by Alternative Currency Asset Management , a wholly-owned unit of SecondMarket, which is acting as the broker-dealer for the fund. SecondMarket, which offers a variety of services to buy into illiquid private assets, itself has also invested a $2 million seed investment into the fund. Institutions and accredited individual investors can buy into the fund. Typically, buying bitcoin, particularly in large amounts, requires buying, storing and securing the currency (one offline storage method is called “cold storage” ). But the BIT fund will enable investors to avoid those issues because they will not ...